1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door to a microwave oven, and more particularly, to a door to a microwave oven, having a controller integrated thereto.
2. Background of the Related Art
In general, in a frontal surface of the microwave oven, there are an output part for indicating various information thereon and an input part for a user to provide a required cooking time period and the like to the microwave oven, both of which are electrically connected to a circuit board. That is, the circuit board is provided with a work order from the user through the input part, to control various electric components, such as a magnetron, and present various information to the output part. In the meantime, of the microwave oven, one mounted over a heating apparatus, such as a gas range, is so called a wall mounting type microwave oven, which is required to discharge a cooking heat and a heat generated at the electric components in the microwave oven to outside of the microwave oven, smoothly. A related art wall mounting type microwave oven will be explained, with reference to FIG. 1.
A body 10 of the related art wall mounting type microwave oven is mounted on a wall 1, which has a door 20 in a front face thereof for selectively opening/closing a cooking chamber. There is a vent grill 40 in an upper portion of the door 20 for discharging odor and heat and the like to outside of the microwave oven, and a control part 30 on one side of the door 20. That is, the door 20 and the control part 30 are mounted to the body 10, separately. As shown in FIG. 2, the door is provided with a door panel 21 forming an overall frame ol the door, a front panel 22 of transparent glass fitted to a front face of the door panel 21, and a door frame 23 spaced a distance from the front panel 22 to form a rear face of the door.
The control part will be explained with reference to FIG. 3. The control part 30 is provided with a key pad 31, a control panel 32, a bracket 33, and a circuit board 34 assembled in an order starting from the front face of the body 1 to the rear face thereof. The circuit board 34 is electrically connected to electric components, such as the magnetron(not shown). The key pad 31 has a plurality of selection buttons 31a for a user to select cooking power, cooking time period, and the like, connected to the circuit board, electrically. There is an ICD 34a integrated to the circuit board 34 for displaying various information, and passed through the bracket 33, control panel 32, and the key pad 31, such that the LCD 34a is exposed to outside of the microwave oven for the user to notice the various information displayed thereon.
As shown in FIG. 4, in the foregoing related art wall mounting type microwave oven, the LCD in the output part, and the key pad in the input part are positioned above a height of eyes of the user, to require the user's eyes to look upward and the user's hand to direct upward in handling the key pad, that are not convenient for the user. This problem is caused by the mounting of the control part on one side of the door, limiting a mounting position of the control part.
The problem becomes more serious when the microwave oven is of a type to be mounted above a user's height, such as the wall mounting type microwave oven. And, it is required to solve this problem taking the fact that use of the wall mounting type microwave oven is increased gradually into account. As one of methods for solving the problem, U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,640 discloses a microwave oven, wherein the control part is mounted, not on the body of the microwave oven, but on the door. However, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,640 fails to solve the problem because the control part is mounted to an upper portion of the door that requires the user's eyes and hand to direct upward.
And, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,640 requires the control part on the door to connect an electrical component with one cable. Therefore, the cable should be comparatively long, which is not convenient for transportation of the door for assembly to the body, and has a possibility of damage during the transportation. Moreover, it is difficult of disassemble the door only from the body once the door assembly to the body is completed. Accordingly, disassembly of the door only is difficult in a case of trouble of the control part and the like, and the microwave oven itself should be dismounted from the wall, and an outer case of the microwave oven should be removed, for disassembly of the door.